


i was enchanted to meet you (please don't have somebody waiting on you)

by thenewromantics



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, You'll see what I mean, but like in a cute rom com kind of way, mistaken identity au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-14 19:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17514722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewromantics/pseuds/thenewromantics
Summary: when el runs into a tall, handsome stranger one day on her way to her psych class, she's fairly certain she's never seen anyone so cute in her entire life, and she spends the next week totally unable to get him out of her head. the only problem? he's dating her best friend. at least, she's pretty sure.aka a mileven college au.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freshbloom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freshbloom/gifts).



> hello friends!! that's right, i'm here with yet another mileven au. are you excited? i hope the answer is yes because i am very excited. this au isn't going to be as long as my last one, just three parts this time, but i hope you all still enjoy it. it's an idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while now so i'm super excited that i finally sat down and actually wrote it! 
> 
> special shout out, as always it seems like, to jazz (who i'm dedicating this story to because she has been excited about it since the minute i told her and i love her for that), julie & ally, who are my number one cheerleaders.

El absolutely  _ despised _ being late. 

It was a hatred that had lived in El for as long as she could remember. Whether it be meeting someone to work on a group project, or to her, albeit very lax, job at the police station, nothing set of El’s anxiety more then when she was running late. This, of course, only got worse in college when running late to class slowly but surely became her worst nightmare and her biggest fear.

A nightmare and fear that was dangerously close coming true at this current moment in time. 

El didn’t even really know how it happened. One minute she was in the library, doing research for her English paper and the next she had ten minutes to sprint all the way across campus and up six flights of stairs to get her to psychology lecture. Needless to say, she was glad that she had worn her sneakers that day. 

So, naturally, the last thing El wants, or expects, in her hurry is to literally run into someone. Which, of course, is exactly what happens. She doesn’t mean to, really, she doesn’t. Sure, she maybe could have been looking where she was going a little better, but the  _ very tall _ guy that she had run into, really should have moved when she saw him coming. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” She heard him mumble as she picked up her strewn books from the floor. Luckily most of her stuff had been tucked in her backpack, which was still securely on her back, so she only had to spend a couple seconds hunched over, but when she stood, she felt herself gulp. 

Because standing in front of her was probably the cutest boy she had ever seen in her entire life. 

“It’s fine.” She felt herself saying, laughing almost instinctively. Sure, she only had about two minutes now to sprint all the way up to the third floor to get to her lecture on time, and if he was anyone else she probably would have already walked away by now, but there was something about the look on his face that was making her stomach flip. “I should have been looking where I was going.” 

He laughed and El swore her heart physically lifted in her chest. “I’m way taller than you, so really I should have been looking where I was going.”  _ God _ El thought, her heart dancing, he was way too cute for his own good. 

“Yeah, maybe this is all your fault.” She joked, feeling herself smirk. He laughed again and El was pretty sure she wanted to hear his laugh a million more times. 

“Yeah, maybe.” He said, a smile on his face. El was ninety nine percent sure that at this point she was blushing profusely, but she couldn’t even bring herself to care that much. There was just something about him that was so ridiculously adorable, she couldn’t help it. 

With his freckled cheeks and his messy black hair, El didn’t think she had ever seen someone cuter. She was totally okay with running into someone every day if they always looked like this. 

“Well, I should get going.” She said after a second, her heart still beating faster than normal in her chest. The boy smiled at her, and it was almost enough to make El say screw it and ask him if he wanted to hang out, but she had  _ some  _ level of restraint. 

“Me too, I’ll see you round.” He said, lifting his hand up in a wave. He broke the eye contact first, spinning on his heels and disappearing out the double doors that she had just entered through. She stood there probably a second longer than was necessary, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. 

One look at the clock hanging in the lobby told her that her class had started five minutes. Now she was late  _ and  _ flustered. 

Too bad she didn’t really care all that much. 

 

* * *

 

“What are you smiling about?” 

El sighed, throwing a glare across the room at Max, who was lounging back on her pillows, a teasing smirk playing on her lips. El loved her roommate, really she did, but she  _ hated _ how Max pretty much noticed everything. 

“Nothing. I can’t be happy for no reason.” El retorted, trying to keep her voice level. The last thing she needed was to give herself away because her voice betrayed her. Max snorting, shaking her head. 

“Of course you can, I just know that usual when you smile like that it’s because of a boy.” Max was still smirking, propping herself up on one elbow so she could look at El. El felt herself blush under Max’s gaze, cursing at herself for not being able to keep it together.

“You have never seen me smile because of a boy before.” El managed to say, pushing herself into a sitting position and leaning against the wall behind her bed.

“Ha! So you admit it’s because of a boy.” El groaned, leaning forward and pressing her forehead against her knees. “I knew it. El has a crush.” 

El could practically hear the laughter and teasing in her best friend’s voice, but she couldn’t bring herself to completely deny Max. “It’s not a crush.” She admitted after a second, and she wasn’t lying, it wasn’t a  _ crush _ , she didn’t even know the guys name. He was just totally, completely adorable and she just so happened to not be able to stop thinking about him. 

Definitely not a crush. 

“But there’s a boy?” Max questioned and when El finally dared to meet the redhead’s gaze, her eyebrows were dancing teasingly across her forehead. “A cute boy?” 

Biting her lip, El couldn’t help but submit to Max’s questions, nodding. “Maybe.” She shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter, I don’t even know his name.” She shook her head, pushing her hair back from her face. “Besides, shouldn’t I be the one giving you the third degree, you’re the one who's been on cloud nine for the last two weeks because of your new boyfriend you refuse to let me meet.”

El tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but some of it slipped through without her meaning to. She couldn’t help it though, it was unfair that she was being grilled when Max had been walking around with a permanent smile on her face for two weeks without El saying one word. 

“That’s so unfair.” Max gasped, flipping her hair over her shoulder, her mouth open as she glared at El. “There’s a reason I’m keeping it to myself.” 

El knew that she couldn’t fault Max for that. It wasn’t like Max was keeping it from her because she didn’t want El to know, she knew it was more because Max was afraid. Afraid that if she admitted this boy she was talking to her was her boyfriend that it would somehow ruin things. El couldn’t begin to understand it, but it wasn’t her business. 

Rolling her eyes, El sighed. “So, I should be allowed to keep my cute boy to myself.” She said, immediately blushing when the words left her mouth. “Not that he’s a cute boy or anything. Or that he’s mine.” She backtracked, but she knew it was too late. Max had an amused smirk on her face and a mischievous glint in her eye. 

“Whatever you say, Ellie.” She teased, throwing herself back down on her pillow, laughter echoing through their room. “It’s okay to admit there’s a cute boy you want to date.” 

“I don’t want to date him.” El said. “I don’t know anything about him.” She sighed, looking down at her bedspread, pulling at a loose thread. 

She could practically hear the smile in Max’s voice. “There’s plenty of opportunities to get to know him. That’s half the fun.” 

“How is that going to happen when I might not ever see him again.” El said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know his name, I don’t know his major. I don’t know anything.” 

She met her best friend’s gaze, and Max was smirking at her. She knew that look, she knew that look all too well. It was the same look Max had gotten on her face when she had told El she was definitely  _ not _ throwing her a surprise birthday party, even though she totally had. That look scared her. 

“Life works in mysterious ways, Ellie. Remember that.” 

Yeah, that’s exactly what El was afraid of.

 

* * *

 

Turns out that Max’s  _ “I don’t want you knowing anything about the boy I’m talking to, not even his name” _ rule was only going to stick around until Max needed something. Realistically, this shouldn’t have surprised El that much, Max often only revealed important parts of herself when it was critical to her own life. Not that El really cared one way or anything, but really, she should have seen this coming. 

“Please, El. I’m all the way across campus and have to work after class. I don’t want to have to go over there after work, you’re already on that side of campus can you please?” Max was practically begging over the phone. El was on her way to the library to study for her bio final so it really  _ wouldn’t _ be that much of a hassle, but she was kind of enjoying hearing Max beg. 

“I don’t know.” El sang, already crossing the street to get to the dorm that she knew Max’s mystery boy lived in. While she was totally fine with Max keeping his name to herself, she had insisted on knowing where he lived so she knew where Max was when she disappeared for hours on end. 

She heard Max sigh loudly on the other end of the phone and she grinned. “You’re going to make me beg aren’t you?” She grumbled, and El could hear shuffling at the other hand, and other distant voices. Max must be in class by now. 

“Maybe.” El teased, drawing out the word and giggling slightly. Max groaned and El smirked, digging around her bag and brandishing her ID card so she could get into the dorm building. “I’m just kidding, I’m already standing in front of the building.”

“You’re so annoying.” Max mumbled, causing El to laugh. “But, thanks. I’m fucked if I don’t pass my chem test tomorrow, so I would have died if I didn’t have my book.” 

Crinkling her eyebrows together, El pushed the front door of the building open after unlocking it and leaned against one of the walls. “Why did you have your book over here anyway?” She asked, suddenly feeling strange when a couple of  _ very tall _ guys walked by her and eyed her. 

“Because,” Max said, a slam of, what El presumed was a book hitting her desk, punctuating her words. “Lucas is a engineering major so I thought maybe he could try and help me understand it.” 

El smirked, suddenly feeling victorious for getting Max to admit his name to her. “So, his name is Lucas.” On the other end she heard Max throw her head down to the tabletop, cursing under her breath. 

“Yeah, his name is Lucas and he lives on the second floor. Room 214.” Nodding, El pulled out a pen and wrote the room number on her hand so she wouldn’t forget. The last thing she needed was to knock on someone else’s door, especially when she had no idea who the person on the other side was supposed to look like. “I need to go, the prof is glaring at me, thanks again, Ellie.” 

El smiled, “Anytime, MadMax.” She teased, hearing Max groan before there was a click and Max was gone. Still smiling, El pocketed her phone and made her way to the nearest stairwell. 

She had never been in this dorm building before, it was the Honors dorm, and El was so  _ not  _ smart enough to live here. It’s not that she wasn’t smart, she had gotten good grades in high school and was doing well in college, but the Honors program was a whole other level. 

That’s what was on El’s mind as she made her way down the 2nd floor hallway, her eyes scanning the room numbers. Max dating someone from the Honors program was almost admirable. Max usually didn’t go for nerds. El was so absorbed in her thoughts that she almost walked right past it, and she probably would have if it didn’t have a garishly decorated white board on the front door.

In place of name tags, which are what adorned Max and El’s dorm door, was a rather large white board that looked like it had been attacked with dry erase markers. Words that El didn’t understand and drawings that ranged from simple to elaborate. She was glad that Max had told her Lucas’ name before arriving, because she didn’t see his name anywhere.

Raising her hand, she knocked softly, suddenly nervous. And apparently she had a good reason to be, because when the door opened, she felt the air whoosh out of her lungs like a balloon. Because standing on the other side of the door, was the very boy she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. 

Her tall, freckled faced, dark windswept haired mystery boy, was actually  _ Max’s _ . 

El ignored the way her heart dropped to her feet. 

“Hi.” He,  _ Lucas _ , finally said after a long beat of silence. El wondered if he recognized her, it was unlikely though. Their timely meeting had been almost a whole week ago, and if he was spending as much time with Max as El thought he was, chances are he had forgotten about her a long time ago. “Are you El?” 

El nodded, unable to keep the grin off her face at the sound of her name leaving his lips. But she quickly shook it away, this was the boy that her best friend was  _ dating _ , she couldn’t allow herself to get so giddy about this. “Yeah, that’s me.” 

Lucas laughed and El’s heart drummed happily in her chest. “Yeah, Max mentioned that you were coming by to get it, she sounded pretty freaked out about potentially not having it for her test tomorrow.” 

Grabbing the book from one of the desks, Lucas passed it to El, their hands brushing. El could feel her skin warm at the feeling of his hand against hers, and she really, really hoped it wasn’t written all over her face. The last thing she needed was Max’s boyfriend, for a lack of a better term, to think she had a crush on him.

Well, she did  _ kind of _ have a crush on him. But, he certainly did not need to know that. 

“There’s a pretty good chance that I’ll spend more time with this book tonight then she will, but I’ll get it in the right hands.” El says, causing Lucas to laugh. She smiled, biting her bottom lip to keep it from practically breaking her face in too. 

God, she needed to get out of here. 

“Well, I’ve been doing some of it with her and she’s got a pretty good hand at it, I think she just doesn’t want to admit that she actually likes science.” El can’t help the laugh that escapes her lips and she shakes her head. There’s a teasing look in his eye and El’s stomach swoops.

“That sounds like Max.” 

They both laugh, the sound filling the small dorm room, before silence settles over them. It’s a little awkward and goes on longer than El would have liked, so she’s the first one that breaks it, clearing her throat. Lucas looks at her, and El can’t help but gulp, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

“I should get going, I have work in like twenty minutes and I don’t want to be late.” El said, putting Max’s book in her bag and folding her hands in front of her. There was a look on Lucas’ face that El couldn’t quite place, and she ignored the way it made her insides twist. 

“Yeah, right, of course.” He smiles and El swears her entire body feels like it’s going to light on fire. There has to be a blush on her face at this point based on how  _ hot _ it feels, and she almost wishes the ground would open up and swallow her whole. “I wouldn’t want to be the reason you get fired.” 

He’s joking, and El can’t help the smile that breaks out across her lips. When she meets his eyes, he has a smirk on his face and El’s heart pitter patters in her chest. She lingers for a moment, before finally turning towards the door. 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” She says, and he nods. “Thanks again, I’m sure Max will appreciate it.” Lucas smiles at and El swears his freckles dance across his skin.  _ Max is so lucky. _ She thinks before shaking that thought from her head. 

“I’m happy to help.” 

She smiles. “Bye.” Her voice is soft and she gives him a soft wave before pushing herself out the door. Once she’s in the hallway, she leans against the wall next to the door, breathing out a sigh of relief that she hadn’t even been aware she was holding. 

She tried to ignore the burning of unshed tears, wiping at her eyes before they could slip down her cheeks. The last thing she needed was to be  _ that girl _ crying in the hallway of a dorm that she didn’t even live in. Especially because the reason for her tears was so, so stupid. 

Sure, she had a crush on her best friend’s boyfriend, and yeah, the mere thought of him was enough to send her entire body into overdrive. But she could get over that, she would have to. 

It was certainly nothing to cry over. 

 

* * *

 

After the punching realization that the boy she had been thinking about was actually dating her best friend, life apparently wasn’t done being cruel to El. Because after she learned this, very crucial, piece of information, she saw Lucas  _ everywhere. _

Whether it be in the library when she was working, or two tables over in the dining hall, or even just walking down the sidewalk, it seemed like life just wanted to keep reminding her that not only did he exist, but that he was totally off limits. El hated it. 

Especially because he always looked so happy to see her.

El is almost positive that it would be easier to ignore the way her heart sped up and her palms began to sweat if Lucas’ face didn’t stretch into a face splitting smile whenever he saw her. Curse Max for dating someone who was nice  _ and _ cute. 

It also didn’t help that Max was harping on El’s “future mystery boyfriend” and El didn’t have the heart to tell her that that ship sailed the minute Lucas opened the door. Basically, El was fairly certain that life was out to get her in every single way possible. 

“So, Lucas and I are going to this wing place tonight that just opened, I think his roommate is coming with us, wanna come?” Max asked one morning, about two weeks after El had met Lucas. “You can like, officially meet him.” 

El rolled her eyes from where she was standing by her mirror, her hairbrush stopping it’s motions. “I already met him, Max, remember.” 

“Yeah, I remember. But Lucas never mentions it, and besides, talking to someone for three minutes doesn’t really count.” Max said, and El tried to ignore the way her heart paused in her chest. Was she really  _ that _ unremarkable that Lucas never even bothered to mention her to Max. 

Swallowing the weird lump in her throat, El shook her head. She didn’t have plans tonight, but she also didn’t really want to watch Max and Lucas together all night. “Um, I don’t think I can. I have a bunch of reading for my English class, and I want to get a jump start on it.” 

Max groaned and El watched her throw her head back in the mirror. “You’re so boring sometimes, you know that.” El bristled, her spine straightening. She knew Max was teasing her, but she couldn’t help but be  _ slightly  _ offended. She already felt bad enough that the whole reason she didn’t want to go is because the idea of seeing Lucas and Max together still kind of made her stomach twist. 

“I think you’ll survive without me.” El said, hoping Max didn’t pick up on the stiffness in her voice. She didn’t need Max thinking she was mad at her, because she wasn't. None of this was Max’s fault.

At that, Max smirked, but didn’t respond, merely grabbing her stuff from her bed and blowing El a kiss as she exited the room. When she was gone, El took a deep breath, pushing her forehead against the mirror. She needed to get over whatever the hell was going on with her, and fast. 

Unfortunately for her, that certainly didn’t seem like it was going to be happening anytime soon, because forty fives minutes later, about ten minutes into her shift at the library, deep in the psychology stacks, she ran into the one person she was trying to desperately to avoid. 

“Oh, hi El.” El, who hadn’t noticed him at first, and had an arm full of, rather heavy, books, felt her face burn as some of them tumbled to the ground when she jumped in shock. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Shaking her head, El bent down to the floor, trying not to blush too much when Lucas handed her some of the books that had fallen close to his feet. “It’s fine, I was off in my own little world, a pin dropping would have given me the same reaction.”

Lucas laughed and El felt her heart flip in her chest. “Well still, that was my fault.” He paused, and El took the beat of silence as an opportunity to place a couple of the books on the shelf. “I didn’t know you worked here. I’ve seen you in here a couple of times but I didn’t know that was why.” He said, tilting his head as he looked at her. 

“Well to be fair, we have only spoken once.” El lightly teased, smiling slightly. “But yeah, perks of being the child of a single parent.” She joked. 

“You do make a good point.” Lucas said, nodding his head, his hair falling in his eyes. El tried not to stare as he pushed his curls back, causing them to stick up haphazardly. He then grinned and El swallowed. “Is this what your job at the library entails? Restocking books.” 

El nodded, smiling at the way Lucas’ eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. “Pretty much. Sometimes I get to sit at the front desk, but this is my first semester, so I kind of get stuck doing all the boring jobs.” She shrugged, lifting herself up on her tiptoes to put some of the books back, Lucas however, saw her struggle and grabbed the books from her, using his height to easily place them on the top shelf. She smiled, blush creeping onto her cheeks. “Thanks.” 

“Anytime.” He smiled, and when El looked up at him she swore her heart was beating so quickly that she almost feared it would beat right out of her chest. They looked at each other for a moment and El swore that the world felt like it was going to stop turning around them. His face was far closer to hers then she was expecting and she almost fell over with how quickly she stepped away from him.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, El cleared her throat, mentally cursing herself for how quickly her heart was beating. This was her best friend’s  _ boyfriend _ , she needed to have a little more self control. “So, any reason you’re lurking in the psychology stacks?” She teased, trying to shift her train of thought away from what had just happened. “Last I knew, you were some kind of science major.” 

Lucas nodded, picking a book off the shelf, looking at the title before putting it back. “I am. But I’m also a creative writing minor, so I need to take some humanities classes.” He shrugged, his eyes scanning the book shelf before he looked at her again. “It’s kind of kicking my ass, though.” 

So, not only was he smart enough to live in the honors dorms as a science major but he also loved to write? God, she wished she was Max. 

“Well, I’m a psych major, so if you need any help, I’d be happy to.” She said, almost immediately regretting the words as soon as they leave her mouth. It’s not that she doesn’t want to help him, but lord knows if she spends anymore time with him she’s only going to develop an even  _ bigger _ crush on him. 

However, her regret dispels as soon as she sees the smile the spreads across his face, as he sighs in relief. “Really? That would be awesome.” She smiles, nodding her head. 

“Yeah, no problem.” El clears her throat, itching to pull at the collar of her t shirt, suddenly feeling warm all over her body. “Whenever you want to meet works for me.” 

Lucas nodded, and scrunched his face up slightly in thought. El’s stomach swooped in her chest and she rubbed her hands lightly against the fabric of her jeans when they started to sweat. “Well, I’m busy this weekend, but what about Monday?” 

El swallowed, she knew the reason he would be busy this weekend. Max had already warned her that she would probably be spending most of her weekend with Lucas. “Yeah, Monday works for me.” 

“You doing anything fun this weekend?” Lucas asks after a beat of silence, his eyes trained on a book in his hand. She can see a smile playing on the corners of his lips and she has to take a deep breath, focusing on putting some of the books back on the shelf, clearing her throat before she speaks.

“That depends on whether or not you considering writing a paper fun.” She joked, her stomach flipping when she heard his laugh. “Although, I hear that I’ll be missing out on quite the adventure tonight.” 

She swears she hears Lucas groan, but when she glances at him, he’s got an amused look on his face. Her heart twists. “Yeah, it’s all Max’s idea. But, I think it’ll be fun.” El nods, and tries her best to ignore the sudden discomfort that she feels. She knows it’s her fault, however, she  _ is _ the one that mentioned tonight in the first place. 

There’s another beat of silence, and Lucas hums, snapping the book in his hand shut. “Well, I think I finally found what I was looking for.” He picks up his backpack from the ground and El feels herself swallow when she sees the stretch of skin between his t shirt and his jeans when he stretches.  _ God, get it together, El!  _ The voice in her head screams at her.  _ This is your best friend’s boyfriend for crying out loud. _

She feels a deep blush cover her face and she forces a small smile at him. “Thank you again, for the help.” She says, gesturing the small pile of books she still has left to put away. “I probably would still be standing on my tiptoes if you weren’t here.” 

“I’m happy my height could be of service.” He jokes, his eyes twinkling. “Too bad you’re not in Harry Potter where you could like, use a wand to float the books onto the shelves.” El’s heart lifted in her chest, a laugh escaping her lips. 

So, not only was he smart, kind and cute, but he also made Harry Potter references? It was almost unfair at this point. 

“That’s the dream.” She quips, watching the apples of Lucas’ cheeks lift and his freckles dance across his skin. They remind her of stars and she doesn’t think she’s ever seen anything to pretty. “So, do you want to just meet here on Monday?” She definitely regrets offering to help him, as the idea of being alone with him made her palms sweat and her heart race, but it was too late now and El didn’t want to be rude. 

“Yeah, that sounds awesome. Thanks again.” He gives her a grateful smile and El nods, shrugging her shoulders. “You’re a lifesaver, seriously.” 

El mentally curses, he has absolutely  _ no idea _ the effect that he has on her. “Like I said, before, I’m happy to do it."

“I know, but still. It’s incredibly nice of you.” She watches as Lucas licks his lips and she swallows. “I should get going, thanks again, El.” 

“Yeah, no problem.” With that, Lucas nods at her, giving her another small smile. She can’t help but watch him as he brushes past her and disappears into the stacks of books towards the exit. “Bye, Lucas.” She whispers as his form fades from her view. 

She hates herself more and more with each step that he takes. 

 

* * *

 

El knows it’s overdramatic, but she spends pretty much her entire weekend in bed.

It’s not necessarily intentional, at least at first, she’s already in bed on Friday night when Max sends her the picture. It’s getting kind of late, the sun is down and El’s turned off her overhead light, relying on her Christmas lights and desk lamp to cast a warm glow over the room. She’s finished with her essay, at least for the night, and is scrolling through Netflix when her phone dings. 

She figures it’s from Max before she even looks, Max is the only person who texts her, besides the occasional one word message from her father. El opens the notification without thinking much of it, assuming it’s a message about her going to Lucas’ room or telling El not to wait up. So, she’s surprised when a picture pops up on her screen. 

It’s Max, all wild mess of red hair and wide blue eyes. She’s got her tongue out and her head is leaning against Lucas’ shoulder. El’s gaze only focuses on her friend for a moment before it shifts to Lucas, whose face is pink, his black hair curling around his face like a halo. He’s smiling at the camera, looking almost embarrassed to be caught in such a situation.

El’s heart squeezes in her chest. 

She doesn't respond to the message. She knows it’s petty, but based on the caption, which had been a string of letters that vaguely looked like they read “i’m drunk”, she doubts Max will even remember that she sent it. 

Max doesn’t come back that night, El pretends that she doesn’t notice. 

Saturday, when Max comes in a little after the sun has peaked over the horizon, El fakes still being asleep. That doesn’t stop Max from making noise as she slams her dresser and closet shut, the sound of her zipping her backpack being particularly loud, but it stops her from trying to talk to El, which is enough. 

Max is gone the rest of the day, sending El a couple of texts to tell her where she is and who she’s with (it’s always Lucas and El forces herself to act like each time she reads it doesn’t feel like a stab to the heart). El manages to get her essay done and dabbles in her other homework assignments, desperate to keep her mind on anything  _ but  _ Max and Lucas together. 

Another night comes and goes without a single sight of Max. This time, El doesn’t even bother pretending she thinks Max will come back. 

By the time Sunday rolled around, El had almost resigned to the fact that she might not see Max again until Monday evening when they both had completed their classes for the day, but even that seemed like a little bit a stretch. It’s not that she was judging Max for spending all weekend with her boyfriend, lord knows El would too if she had someone who looked like Lucas, or someone who  _ was _ Lucas, as one, she would be doing the same thing.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t be upset that her best friend had essentially abandoned her all weekend. 

However, El is proven wrong when Sunday evening, just after the sun has began going down, casting the room in a soft, orange glow, the door creaks open and Max appears, a small smile on her face and a pizza box in her hands. El, who is trying to read the newest Game of Thrones novel, looks up, her stomach rumbling at the sight of food. Considering she’s hardly left her room all weekend, that also meant that she’s been living off her frozen food. 

“I come bearing gifts.” Max says as she fully steps into the room, kicking the door behind her. “Pepperoni and bacon, your favorite.” She has a smile on her face and El grins.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” She says, putting her book aside and scooting over on her bed so Max can sit next to her. It’s not uncommon, for them to sit side by side on one of their beds and talk and eat pizza, but it’s been so long since they did it. Both of them busy with class and work. 

Max laughs, climbing up on El’s bed and snuggling next to her. El throws her blanket over their legs and grabs her laptop, so they can watch Netflix while they eat. “Once or twice but I’m always down to hear it again.” 

El smiles and they sit in silence for a few moments, El clicking on a random episode of Friends for them to watch. Max hands her a slice of pizza and for the first ten minutes of the episode, they don’t talk, merely enjoying each other’s company and laughing along to the show. Max has her head pillowed on El’s shoulder, and El pauses when she hears Max sigh.

“I’m sorry, Ellie.” She says, her voice slightly muffled against El’s t shirt. El furrows her eyebrows. “I didn’t mean to abandon you all weekend.” 

El feels her heart stop in her chest, guilt seeping through her veins. “It’s okay.” She says softly, hoping that Max doesn’t catch the obvious guilt in her tone. “You were with Lucas, I understand.” 

Against her shoulder, she feels Max smile and her heart sinks to her stomach. “I really, really like him, Ellie.” Max’s voice is unlike El has ever heard it before, it sounds almost dreamy and El is pretty sure she’s never hated herself more in her entire life than she has in this moment. 

“You deserve to be happy, Maxie.” El says after a moment, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She means every word of it, Max has been through a lot in her life and deserves nothing but happiness, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t twinge at El’s heart just a little bit. 

Honestly, that just makes El hate herself all the more. 

 

* * *

 

The next day, El is practically dreading her library session with Lucas. 

All of that is on her, she’s not going to deny that at all, but after her talk with Max last night, El doesn’t know if she’ll be able to face it. Her indescribable amount of guilt about this entire weekend on top of her still very much palpable crush on him was making her very much  _ not  _ excited about seeing him. 

Because really, she doubts spending an hour or two with him will make either one of those things go away. In fact, she’s sure that it’ll just make them worse. 

El spends pretty much her entire Monday wishing for four o’clock to never arrive. But, unfortunately, for the first time, pretty much ever, her Monday whizzes by and before El can blink she only has a half an hour to rush back to her room, grab her stuff and get to the library to meet Lucas. 

She’s in such a haze when she flings the door to her and Max’s room open, focused only on finding her book and  _ not  _ being late, that at first she doesn’t notice the movement happening on Max’s bed that’s definitely not just Max doing her homework. It’s only when El has turned around back towards the door, book in hand, when she realizes what she saw and stops. 

Spinning around slowly on her heel, she takes in what’s going on, and her heart thunders in her chest. Max is in the middle of what looks to be a very, very intense kissing session with someone who is definitely, very much,  _ not  _ Lucas. 

“Max.” El says after a second, her heart pounding in her ears and her hands trembling slightly. She can’t  _ believe _ Max. Less than twenty four hours ago, Max was telling her how much she liked Lucas and how happy she was and now she was  _ kissing _ some other boy. There were so many feelings that El could feel boiling up inside of her and that was she was almost afraid she was going to explode. 

“Oh my god, El.” Max said, pulling away from her kiss, her cheeks red and a smile on her face. A giggle escaped her lips and her partner looked just as pleased with what had just transpired. El wondered if he knew what he was helping Max to do. “I totally wasn’t expecting you to walk in, sorry about that.”

She doesn’t look sorry and El has to take one, two, three deep breaths before she can even look Max in the face. “Clearly.” Her voice is clipped and she watches as Max’s face morphs from happiness to confusion. “How could you?” El barely whispers, her hand that’s not holding her psych book still shaking. 

Max slips off her bed, throwing a look to the boy, who looks just as confused as Max does, and comes to stand in front of El. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were going to be coming in, I thought you were going to the library.” 

El practically scoffs. She knows deep down that this isn’t her place, she shouldn’t get involved with Max’s relationship, but Max had confided in her yesterday, and they were best friends and someone needed to tell Max what she was doing wasn’t okay. “Yeah, I was to meet your boyfriend. So you took that as an opportunity to go around kissing someone else.” 

She doesn’t know what she expects with her words, but Max turning around to share a very confused glance with the boy she had been kissing before looking back at El certainly wasn’t it. “What?” 

“Your boyfriend, you know, tall, freckles, curly black hair.” Max’s eyebrows raise and her eyes widen and El swallows. “Sound familiar?” 

“Oh my god.” And with her words Max starts laughing, her head thrown back and her hand covering her mouth. “I shouldn’t be laughing but El, that’s not my boyfriend.” El stops, blood rushing to her face in embarrassment. 

“What?” Her voice is quiet, but Max still hears her. The boy on Max’s bed has an amused smile on his face and suddenly El feels like she’s missing out on some kind of joke. “I’m confused.” 

Max nods, pushing her hair back from her face and licking her lips, clearly trying to hold back her grin. “That boy, the tall one with freckles and curly black hair, that’s Mike.”  _ Mike _ . El’s eyebrows crinkle together in confusion and she tilts her head slightly. “This is Lucas.” The boy, Lucas, waves from the bed, still grinning and El barely manages to hold her hand up to wave back. 

“Who’s Mike?” El finally says, feeling more confused than she did before. There was a slight relief that she felt, knowing that the boy she had been crushing on and thinking about for weeks  _ wasn’t  _ in fact her best friend’s boyfriend, but she still didn’t know who he was. 

“Mike’s my roommate.” Lucas says, getting off the bed to come and stand next to Max. “The reason he probably never introduced himself is because he gets nervous when talking to pretty girls.” El feels herself blush at Lucas’ words, her face warming. 

“Wait, do you think El is the girl that Mike was talking about on Friday, the cute one from the library.” El’s heart swoops in her chest and her stomach flips. Mike had  _ told _ Max and Lucas about her. 

She watches as Lucas smirks, sharing a look with Max. “Yeah, I would say it’s probably her.” El, once again, feels like she’s out of the loop but she still smiles, trying not to look too excited about what they’re saying. She doubts that Mike actually said anything about her. 

“You don’t need to lie to me to make me feel better about getting all confused.” El says to Max, watching as her friends rolls her eyes, but doesn’t argue. “If you’ll excuse me, now I need to go, or else I’m going to be late.” 

Max and Lucas share another look, but don’t say anything. Max gives her a small smile, waving as El disappears out the door. She’s definitely, one hundred percent more confused than she was about fifteen minutes ago, but she’s also definitely,  _ definitely _ , relieved. 

Now she suddenly doesn’t feel so guilty about her ever growing crush on Lucas, no  _ Mike _ , and she almost doesn’t want it to go away. 

 

* * *

 

Ultimately, she ends up being about fifteen minutes late to meet Mike, whose waiting for her in the lobby of the library, but he doesn’t seem upset when she walks up to him. If anything, he looks like he had been worried about her.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” She says when she’s in front of him, her heart speeding up immediately in his presence. 

“It’s okay.” He shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I was actually worried something had happened to you or something.” 

El smiles, biting down on her bottom lip and hoping that her complexion doesn’t betray her. “Well, I did walk in Max and Lucas kissing, so I think my eyes have now seen more than they ever wanted to.” She jokes, smiling when Mike laughs. 

“I’ve been there, happened multiple times this weekend. I was so relieved when Max finally left on Sunday.” He says, pushing his hair back from his face. The expression on his face morphs though, when he realizes what he said. “Not that I have anything against Max, obviously, I just was getting tired of being mentally scarred every time I walked into my room.”

El nods, “Yeah, I totally understand the feeling. Luckily, Max didn’t want me to meet Lucas for the first couple weeks they were dating, so I was exempt from having to see it, but now I guess my luck has changed.” 

“You are very lucky in that regard, Lucas pretty much told me that he didn’t really care how uncomfortable it made me, so I needed to deal with it.” He shakes his head, almost like he’s remembering the exact conversation and El giggles. “I’m happy he’s happy, but I also don’t need to see that.” 

His face scrunches in disgust and El can’t help but throw her head back in laughter. “Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about it.” Mike snorts and they share a look. “Although I think after today, they probably won’t be spending much time in my room, I think Lucas might think I’m crazy.” 

“Why would he think you’re crazy?” Mike asks, beginning to walk in the direction of the study rooms near the back of the library. “I mean, we’ve only spoken a couple of times, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you’re very much not crazy.” El smiled, looking down at the floor. “Unless of course you’re leading me into this private study room to murder me or something, then I might change my answer.” 

El can’t help but laugh, looking up at Mike, whose smirking down at her. “Trust me, if I wanted to do that I would definitely at least wait until it was dark outside.” She teases, causing Mike to chuckle. It makes her heart warm, being the reason that he laughs like that. 

“Well, then, if you’re not a murderer, then chances are you probably aren’t crazy.” Mike says, holding the door open when they arrive at an empty study room. She ducks into the room, taking a seat at the table. “So, I don’t know why Lucas would think that.” 

El considers for a moment if she should tell him. Sure, it would be embarrassing and much like Max and Lucas, he would likely laugh at her (and it would hurt a little more coming from him), but she also would rather tell him herself then have him hear it from Max and Lucas later. “Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I met him for the first time just a couple minutes ago and his first introduction to me was me thinking Max was cheating on him.” 

Confusion covers Mike’s face like a blanket and she can tell that he’s trying to decipher what she’s saying. “What?” His eyebrows are raised ever so slightly and she can tell that he’s trying not to laugh through his confusion. 

She feels herself blush, her face becoming bright red and as she lays her chin across her arms, which are folding on the table. “So, don’t make fun of me too badly, but I kinda thought that you were Lucas.” 

El pushes her head against the tabletop once the words leave her mouth, wrapping her arms around her head to hide herself. Her face is still hot with blush and she doesn’t think she’s quite able to face looking at Mike. Especially if he’s going to laugh at her. 

But, surprisingly, he doesn’t. 

“You thought I was Lucas?” He asks, no hint of teasing or laughter in his voice. El nods, sighing as she pushing her hair away from her face, returning to a sitting position. 

“Well, I showed up to get Max’s book that one day and I just kind of assumed.” Mike nods, still not a hint of judgement or amusement laced in his features, and El feels herself relax ever so slightly. 

Then he smiles, but it’s not teasing, and El feels her heart dip in her chest. “I suppose I didn’t make it any easier by never actually introducing myself to you, did I?” He says with a small laugh and El smiles. 

“No, you really didn’t.” She teases, leaning across the table and shoving his shoulder, already feeling a million times lighter. “So really, this is all your fault.” 

Mike shakes his head, laughing and El joins in and before long the two of them are lost in laughter, El practically clutching at her side it hurts so much. She can’t remember the last time she felt this happy. 

“Well, let me make it up to you now.” Mike says after they’ve both calmed down enough to breath properly. El’s eyebrows crinkle together at his words, her confusion only rising when he sticks his hand across the table. “My name’s Mike, it’s very, very nice to meet you.” 

El laughs before meeting his hand with hers, trying to ignore the jolt of electricity she felt at the touch of their skin. “I’m El, and trust me when I say it’s wonderful to finally meet you.” 

It was in that moment that El knew. 

Knew that her crush on Mike, last name still unknown, was only going to get worse. But, she was totally, totally okay with that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more is coming, i promise! the next chapter will be mike and el being Friends and el falling more and more in love with him and you'll just have to see how that one ends (hint, it'll probably be a kiss). anyways, i hope you all enjoyed this!!! it was super fun to write and i'm super excited for part two!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok uh hi. i did not mean for this to take pretty much three weeks to write. but i was sick and then i was uninspired and then i was busy and then finally i managed to sit down and write it! but apologies that it took so long, hopefully 9.1k words of pretty much ALL mileven sans one, fairly short, scene, makes up for it. 
> 
> thank you all so much for your amazing support on the first chapter of this fic. it was totally unexpected and i was so floored and moved by it. so thank you so so much! 
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

It doesn’t take long after their official first meeting for Mike and El to become friends. 

Between her helping him with his psychology work and them both being dragged along to hang out with Max and Lucas, before El knows it, she’s spending time with him nearly every day and because of that, it’s becoming even harder and harder to ignore her growing feelings for him. It would be a lot easier too, if Mike treated their time together like a necessity, if he acted like her helping him was just like any other tutoring session or if he acted annoyed when he was forced into going anywhere with her, Max and Lucas. 

But, if anything, he always seemed to, happy, to be around her, that it certainly didn’t make it any easier not to fall for him. 

She ignores all that though, because it turns out, having Mike has a friend is  _ nice _ . He’s kind, funny, smart and into a lot of the same nerdy stuff that El is, that when she’s around him, it’s easy to just laugh and smile and ignore everything else. He makes her feel warm inside and while she knows part of that is  _ because _ of her crush on him, she can’t help but feel part of it is just because of the kind of person he is. 

Slowly, she starts to learn things about him, like a real friend would. She learns his last name, Wheeler, about his siblings, sisters named Nancy and Holly, and about what he wants to be when he grows up, a science fiction writer. Everything she learns about him just makes her like him more and more, and each new fact she discovers feels like uncovering a new piece of treasure. 

She loves it. 

“So, you finally made some new friends?” Her dad teases her one day when she calls home. El made the mistake of using the words “the guys” when talking about who she had hung out with the night before and now she was filled with instant regret. 

El rolls her eyes, shaking her head, even though her dad can’t see her. “Yeah, maybe a couple, is that a problem?” She snarks, unable to resist using the same sarcastic tone with her dad that she had used all through high school. She might be an almost twenty one year old in college, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still her dad. 

Her dad snorts and El can practically see the amused smirk on his face. “No not at all.” El hums. “Do I get to know the names of these boys or not?” 

She sighs, knowing there’s no use in lying, or keeping the truth from him. Not only is it really not that big of a deal, but she knows her dad would be able to tell if she was lying. Not to mention, he’s a cop, so he’s not the best person to run around telling lies to. “There names are Mike and Lucas, there are you happy?” 

“As a clam.” Her dad quipped, causing El to let out an exasperated sigh. “How did you meet these boys?” 

“Why so many questions?” El groaned, throwing her head back on her pillow. She knew why her dad was curious, it’s not like El had many friends to begin with, but she seriously didn’t want to talk about it with her  _ dad _ of all people. 

“Hey, now.” Her dad protested and she knew he would holding his hands up in protest. “I’m just trying to be interested in my daughter’s social life.” El sighed, pushing her hair away from her face and blowing out a breath. “Can’t blame me for being surprised that you suddenly have these boys as your friends when you barely talked to any boys in high school.” 

El hated that her dad had a point. It’s not that she purposefully avoided hanging out with guys in high school, but it seriously wasn’t her fault that all the boys from her hometown were either weird or thought they were too cool to talk to her. “Lucas is Max’s new boyfriend.”

“Ahhh.” El heard a rustling of papers and the setting down of a can, knowing her dad was probably setting in for the evening with his paperwork and beer. “And what about Mike, is he your boyfriend?” 

“Dad!” El practically shrieked, face immediately burning bright red with embarrassment. She was  _ very, very _ glad that she was alone. Max was in class and typically El didn’t hang out with Lucas and Mike without Max being there or without it being a scheduled tutor session for her and Mike. “Mike is not my boyfriend.” She muttered, throwing her hand over her face, trying to quell the blush on her face. 

“But you want him to be.” Her dad said simply, no hint of inquiry or questioning in his voice. El’s lips pursed together, definitely not about to admit that her dad was right.

She instead chose not to respond at all, sitting herself up on her elbows and clearing her throat. “I have to go, Max just texted me and told me she wants to meet her.” That was a lie, obviously, Max hadn’t texted her and she didn’t get out of class for another hour but El was afraid if she talked to her dad any longer he’d get things out of her that she’d rather keep to herself. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Her dad brushed her words away. “Abandon me, just like you always do.” El rolled her eyes at her dad’s dramatics. 

“You’re so dramatic.” El groans, her dad snorting in response. 

“Where do you think you get it from?” Her dad is laughing and El can only gasp, feigning offense. Her dad never lets a moment go to make fun of her. 

The subject of Mike is dropped after that and El and her dad exchange their goodbyes, El promising to call over the weekend, before El is hanging up the phone and letting out a large sigh as she flops backwards onto her bed. Suddenly she wishes she hadn’t been lying about Max texting her. Now she has to sit in her room, alone, mulling over her dad’s words. 

Did she want Mike to be her boyfriend? 

Yes, yes she does. She’s pretty much wanted him to be her boyfriend since they met, and that desire has only gotten stronger since she’s gotten to know him and spent more time with him. 

But her dad definitely does  _ not _ need to know that. No one does. 

Especially Mike. 

 

* * *

 

“This is so hard.” 

El can’t help the laugh that slips from her lips at the over exaggerated groan that Mike lets out as he head falls to the table. She can’t blame him though, they’ve been at this for hours and it’s only gotten harder. The only reason El understands it is because she’s been studying it for almost four years now. 

“You must really hate yourself to force yourself to do this for the last four years.” Mike mutters, lifting his head and rubbing at his eyes. El snorts, shaking her head. 

“You’re a science major, don’t you have like six hours of homework every night?” She questions, pointing her pen at him. 

“Yes, but I understand science. Science and I have a very long term, committed relationship. We get it each other. Psychology...psychology is like the jocks I never talked to in high school. I don’t know them and I don’t want them.” 

El laughs, shaking her head at Mike’s words. “Well, psychology is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a boyfriend, so I would say we understand each other pretty well.” 

There’s a look that crosses over Mike’s face, but it’s gone before El can consider what it mean and a laugh escapes him and a smile pulls at the corners of his lips. After a moment, he reaches up and stretches his arms over his head and El tries to act like she’s  _ not _ watching him. She’s pretty certain that last week he caught her staring at him and the last thing she needs is him thinking she’s a weirdo because she was watching the rise of his t shirt. 

“I’m hungry.” Mike says after he’s flopped his arms back on the table. “Do you mind if we wrap up for today?” 

El, who had been staring at the wall in front of her in order to avoid looking at him for too long snapped her attention back to him. Mike was looking at her with a mixture of desperation and exhaustion in his eyes and El couldn’t help but pity him. It was Friday after all. 

“Oh yeah, sure.” She said with a smile. “I suppose I can’t torture you too much today, I would hate to ruin your weekend.” She smirks and Mike laughs, shaking his head as he starts putting his books in his backpack. 

“You could never.” El tries, and colossally fails, to ignore the way her heart speeds up in her chest, almost threatening to burst from her body. “Speaking of the weekend, any fun plans?” 

With a sigh, she shakes her head, slipping her laptop into her bag and zipping it shut. “None to write home about. Max and Lucas are going on a date tonight, so that’s sure to be exciting for me.” She jokes, satisfied when she hears Mike laugh. 

When she glances at him, he looks like he wants to ask her something and she freezes, suddenly nervous. “Hey, do you wanna do something tonight?” 

She gulps, hands coming in front of her, fingers curling together tightly. “You mean, just the two of us?” Her voice hitches slightly, nerves bundling in the pit of her stomach, and she mentally curses, hoping Mike doesn’t already regret asking her. 

He laughs though, nodding his head. Part of her thinks he looks kind of nervous, but she assumes that he was probably just weirded out by her reaction than anything else. “Yeah, like it sounds like we were both just planning to sit alone in our rooms while Max and Lucas were on their date, so might as well have something to do, right?” 

El’s pretty sure her brain stops working properly sometime during Mike’s explanation, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she tries to comprehend what she  _ did  _ hear. “Yeah, right.” She says after a second, smiling. 

“Cool.” Mike says, a wide smile on his lips. “There’s this really good pizza place downtown, you know if you’re, uh, hungry.” His stomach growls, loudly, almost as if on cue and El laughs. “If not, that’s cool too.” 

El shakes her head, giggling lightly. “No, that sounds good. I guess I could go for some pizza.” Mike grins, nodding. “I think I wanna go back to my room, drop my stuff off and maybe grab a jacket.”

“Oh yeah, me too.” She sees him tug at the strap of his backpack and she doesn’t know if she imagines it or not, but it looks like he gulps. Is he nervous? “How about I meet you outside your building in like a half an hour?”

“Yeah, okay.” El smiles, giving one nod of her head. Mike smiles again, beginning to turn away from the table, before turning back around and looking at her. El feels nervous under his gaze, feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment.

“It’s a date.” He quips, giving her one last look before turning away and walking towards the exit of the library. El feels sweat begin to appear on her palms, Mike’s words ringing loudly in her ears. 

_ It’s a date _ . 

She shook her head as she pulled her hoodie on. This wasn’t a date, Mike was just using an expression. Everyone used that phrase, so Mike definitely was  _ not  _ implying that this was a date. That was almost laughable. 

Her and Mike going on a date? Yeah, maybe in an alternate universe. Certainly not this one. 

That was something El knew for sure. 

 

* * *

 

By the time El was pulling her jacket on to go and meet Mike about twenty five minutes later, she had already had about three different mental spirals because of how nervous she was. She hated being nervous. 

It certainly didn’t help that by the time she arrived back to her room, Max had already left to be with Lucas, leaving nothing but a ‘don’t wait up!’ sticky note on El’s mirror. While she knew Max would have teased her mercilessly, she might have felt less nervous being able to talk about it with someone, instead of just being left with her own thoughts. 

But alas, she was very much alone and that meant that she had plenty of opportunities to overthink about what the heck she had just gotten herself into. 

On one hand, she was kind of excited. She was hungry and it might be nice to not eat alone just because Max is busy, and she was getting kind of sick of holing herself away in her room. On the other hand, the idea of being alone with Mike was kind of terrifying. Sure, they were alone whenever they studied together, but they were always in the library and while yes, they had talked about semi personal stuff before, it wasn’t the same as hanging out alone without anything school related between them. 

Taking a deep breath as she looked at herself in the mirror, Max’s note staring back at her, El shook her head at herself for being so stupid about this. Mike had probably only asked her if she wanted to hang out because he felt bad for her. He seemed like he was going to get pizza anyway and just asked her to come along so she wouldn’t spend the evening alone. 

He was probably just pitying her. The sooner she realized that, the better it would be for her nerves.

On her bed, her phone lit up with Mike’s text. Her heart tittered in her chest. They had exchanged numbers earlier that week so they could easily arrange tutoring sessions, but this is the first non school related text she had ever received from him. It almost made her want to vomit.

Grabbing her bag and running her hands through her hair one last time, El pocketed her phone, her heart thumping harder and harder each second. Her ears began to ring as she made her way down the hallway, nerves tightening and furling in her stomach. This made her mentally slapped herself,  _ why  _ on earth was she so fucking nervous.

Oh, that’s right. Because she was pretty sure she was falling more and more for Mike every single day and the idea of being alone with him outside the library absolutely  _ terrified _ her. 

“Hey!” Mike immediately said when she pushed herself out the front door of the dorm building. He was wearing the same thing he had been wearing earlier, just with an extra sweatshirt on over his t shirt, but the sight of him still made El stop and take a deep breath. “You ready?” 

El nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets and she went to go stand next to him. “Yes, I’m starving.” She commented. Truthfully, she was almost too nervous to eat anything, but Mike certainly did not need to know that. 

“Me too.” Mike said, laughing slightly. “Have you ever been to the place downtown before?” Mike asked as they began walking in the general direction of the town’s central area. 

Shaking her head, El giggled slightly. “No, I have not.” She looked up at Mike briefly, feeling her cheeks pink when she noticed that he was looking at her. “But, I like pretty much anything pizza related, so I’m sure I’ll like it.” 

Mike threw his head back in laughter, humming in agreement. “Well trust me, I think this will blow every other pizza place you’ve ever been to out of the water.” There was a smirk on his face and his eyebrow was raised and El couldn’t help but grin, a wide smile falling onto her lip. 

“I am definitely going to hold you to that.” The two of them shared a smile and El’s heart practically threatened to burst out of her chest. 

The rest of the walk to the pizza place was mostly silent, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was a comfortable silence, Mike humming softly to himself occasionally. El was glad for the silence, not that she didn’t want to talk to Mike, just that the longer her and Mike went without talking, the longer it was until she sufficiently embarrassed herself in front of him. 

Unfortunately, the comfortable silence didn’t last forever. 

“So, how long have you and Max been friends?” Mike asked once they were seated at the restaurant. El had to admit, she was impressed. It was certainly nicer than any other pizza place she had been too, they even had a waitress. 

“Since freshman year.” El said, taking a small sip of her water. “We lived on the same floor, and we both hated our roommates, so it all just fell into place. Sophomore year we decided to live together and here we are now, two years later.” 

Mike nodded, giving her a small smile. “Kinda sucks that you had to go through having a shitty roommate to meet her, though.” 

“I mean, it’s not like my freshman year roommate  _ sucked _ , per se.” El said, swallowing roughly. She didn’t want to Mike to think that she was some kind of bitch or something. Even though he did have a point, her freshman roommate was pretty shitty. 

“El, it’s okay. You’re allowed to think that she sucked.” Mike joked, reaching across the table and tapping her lightly with his hand. “I don’t even know who she is, so it’s not like I’m gonna go and tell her.” 

El laughed, letting out a small sigh of relief. “Well good, because you’re right, she was kind of shitty.” Mike smirked and El’s stomach flipped. God, he was so  _ cute _ . “What about you and Lucas? How long have you two been friends?” 

She couldn’t help but giggle when Mike let out a long, drawn out, overly dramatic sigh. “Way too long.” He groaned, rubbing his hand down his face. “Just kidding, but a really long time. We grew up next to each other, so pretty much our entire lives.” 

“Wow. I can’t imagine knowing someone that long and still being that close of friends with them.” 

Mike nods, clicking his tongue softly. El tries to ignore the way it sends a tingle down her spine. “Yeah, I guess it is kinda weird, but we’ve always been super close. Pretty much like brothers, so when we ended up coming to the same college, living together just made sense.” He shrugged, taking a sip of his water. 

“I guess that makes sense.” El said with a smile. “It’s kind of hard for me to imagine, but that’s mainly just because I didn’t have a lot of super close friends in high school.” 

Mentally she cringed at her words, way to make herself sound like a total loser. Now Mike was going to think that she was just some friendless weirdo who had only had one real friend their entire life. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be too far off from the truth, but she really didn’t want, or need, Mike knowing that. 

“See now that’s something that’s hard for me to imagine.” He said, causing El’s eyebrows to crinkle together in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” She asked, her voice coming out much softer then she had original hoped, causing her to clear her throat. Mike smiled though, sending a rush through El’s entire body. 

“I mean, I can’t imagine you not having any friends.” Mike said. His words made El freeze, sweat collecting in a sheen on the palms of her hands. “You’re awesome, that’s all.” 

There was a light blush visible on the apples of his cheeks and El’s heart lifted in her chest, practically jumping into her throat. He really had absolutely  _ no _ idea what he was doing to her, did he? 

“Wow, uh, thank you.” El said, gulping as she stumbled through her words. “That’s one of the nicest things someone has ever said to me.” She admitted softly, not really sure what compelled her to do so. 

Mike smiled, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “You’re welcome.” El thought for a moment she saw something flash across his eyes, but it was gone before she could think about it too much. “I know we haven’t been friends for long, but you offered to help me when you barely even knew me, so that definitely tells me a lot about the kind of friend that you probably are.” 

If there was a blush on her face before, it was nothing compared to now. El physically had to cover her cheeks with her hands in order to quell the warmth. A warmth that didn’t go away for basically the rest of the meal. 

Eventually, their food came and their conversation shifted. El learned that Mike had two other friends growing up, Dustin and Will, who were just as big of nerds as him and Lucas were. She also learned that he was president of the Robotics club in high school and was on the swim team his junior and senior years of high school.

In return, El told Mike about being a part of the school newspaper and about what it was like growing up with a cop as a dad, a fact that made Mike’s eyes practically bug out of his head. She also told him about the one day she had ever been on, which pretty much made her blush just as much as his earlier compliment had. 

She ended up revealing way more about herself to him then she ever would have imagined herself doing, but she almost didn’t care. Mike never laughed at her, or looked down on her for anything and for the first time in a really long time, she felt like she was talking to someone who really understood her. 

She both loved and hated that. 

Loved it because of easy it was to talk to him. She felt like the more and more time she spent with him, the longer and longer it felt like she had known him. Talking to him felt like talking to someone she had known for years, not someone she had just become friends with. It was something she had only ever felt before with Max and it was, nice. Not to mention, he had been right, the pizza was probably the best she had ever had. 

However, on the other hand, she hated it because it just made it that much harder for her not to have a crush on him. It would be so much easier if he was a shitty conversatinalist, a bad listener or just flat out rude, then she wouldn’t be leaving the restaurant with even stronger feelings then she had had when they walked in. 

“So, tonight was fun.” Mike said when they arrived back at her dorm building. The walk back had been flooded in the same comfortable silence that their walk to the restaurant had been and it made El feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

“Yeah, it was really fun.” El said with a smile, taking a step away from him. She had subconsciously drifted closer to him on their walk, desperate for his body heat as the temperature had dropped dramatically in the last couple of hours. “Thanks for not laughing when you heard about how much of a loser I was in high school.”

At that, Mike chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “I should be thanking you for doing the same. Besides, you didn’t sound like that much of a loser, sounds like everyone else was just too lame to realize they should hang out with you.” 

For what felt like the millionth time, El felt herself go pink in the cheeks and she bit down on her lower lip to keep herself from smiling too wide. “Once again, you are far too complimentary towards me.” 

Mike shrugged, an easy smile falling on his face, causing El’s heart to somersault in her chest. “I speak nothing but the truth.” There was a small beat of silence and El opened her mouth to say something but Mike spoke before she could. “Well, thank you for humoring me and spending your evening with me.” 

“Anytime.” El said with a smile, although her stomach sunk slightly at the idea of the night being over. If she was a different person, someone with more guts and less insecurities, she would invite Mike in, but she didn’t know if she’d be able to handle him saying no. 

“I’ll see you later, El. Have a good rest of your night.” Mike said, and while there was a small smile on his face, he looked like he wanted to say or do something else, but El pushed that away, not wanting to get her hopes up. 

“Goodnight, Mike.” 

At that, Mike turned away and began walking back towards his own building and for a moment, El allowed herself to watch him walk away, a smile on her face. A smile that she didn’t see going away for a long time. 

 

* * *

 

“So, have you told Mike that you’re in love with him yet?” 

El was very,  _ very _ , glad that she had just swallowed her water or else she was fairly sure she would have spit it out all over the table at Max’s words. Instead, she felt her mouth fall open and her hands fall slack at her side. 

“Excuse me?!” She choked out after a minute or two of silence. Max was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk on her face and merely shrugged her shoulders at El’s words.

“I’m just saying, you’re not exactly subtle about it, so you might as well just tell him.” Max said with a small roll of her eyes. 

“Tell who what?” Lucas asked, suddenly appearing at their table, setting his plate down. Usually Mike would join them in the dining hall for dinner, but he was finishing up a lab report that was due in the morning and didn’t want to risk not having enough time to do it. El should have known that Max would use the opportunity to tease El about her crush on him. 

Max smirked again, this time wide and mischievous, turning to Lucas. “Tell Mike that she’s in love with him.” El groaned when she saw Lucas mirror Max’s smirk, a small waggle running across his eyebrows when he looked across the table at her.

“Oh yeah, you should definitely tell him.” 

Lowering her chin onto her hand, El regarded her two friends with a raised eyebrow. “And why exactly should I do that? Are things getting too boring between all of us, do we need to shake it up and make everything weird and uncomfortable? Because that’s what would happen if I told him.” 

El didn’t exactly know what she expected Max and Lucas to do with her words, but Max loudly shouting, “Ha!” was definitely not it. 

“I knew it!” She exclaimed, holding her hand out for Lucas to high five, which he did proudly, a smile on his face. “You didn’t deny it.” 

Heart racing her chest, El felt her hands shake slightly against the fabric of her pants. “What?” She asked shaking her head, no she had definitely  _ denied _ it because she definitely  _ wasn’t _ in love with Mike. On her way there, maybe, but definitely no in love with him. “Max, I’m not in love with Mike.” 

Max shrugged, popping a french fry into her mouth. “That’s not what I heard, but I can’t stop you from continuing to lie to yourself.” 

Rolling her eyes, El used her fork to stab at her salad, frowning when she took a bite. “I’m not lying to myself. Mike and I are friends, I’m not in love with him.” 

And that wasn’t a lie, her and Mike were friends. Ever since they had gotten pizza together a couple weeks ago, her and Mike had spent quite a bit of time together. They ate lunch together sometimes, they studied together, they hung out together in the student longues. El liked having the company when Max wanted to be alone with Lucas. It made her feel less lonely. 

However, she wasn’t silly enough to ignore that the only reason her and Mike spent all that time together was because Lucas and Max were busy. 

“That’s a shame.” Lucas said after a couple beats of silence, his words slightly muffled by the bite of his sandwich he had just taken. 

Confused, El scrunched her eyebrows together. “Why?” 

Lucas lifted his shoulders, a small smile on his face. “Because, I’m pretty sure Mike is in love with you, so it would be perfect if you felt the same way back. But no one can force how you feel.” 

There was a weird tone to Lucas’ voice that made El gulp. But she shook her head, knowing that he was probably just teasing her, or trying to comfort her in some weird way. “Mike is not in love with me. You don’t have to lie to me to make me feel better or whatever it is that you’re trying to do.”

“I don’t think Lucas is lying to you, sweetie.” Max said, giving El a small smile. El cringed at the nickname, Max only called her sweetie when El wasn’t listening to her about something she thought was important. 

“Look, I’m just saying that Mike isn’t in love with me, just like I’m not in love with him. I’m sure Lucas isn’t lying, but he’s misinterpreting things. Mike and I are friends, that’s it.” El said, crossing her arms across her chest, suddenly feeling insecure. 

There must be something about her tone of voice because Max and Lucas glance at each other, both of them looking like they don’t want to argue with her point. El’s glad that she got her point across because the last thing that she needs is for Lucas to be putting ideas in her head. 

As much as she would love to believe that there’s any truth to what Lucas is saying, she knows that there isn’t. Mike is definitely not in love with her. She doesn’t even know where Lucas would get such an idea. While she’s certainly not accusing him of making things up, or anything of the sort, she does think that he needs to recheck his information. 

Because Mike, being in love with her? Yeah, that would never, ever happen. That much El is certain of. 

 

* * *

 

There was a certain anger, no frustration, that was pumping through El’s veins when she knocked on Mike’s door later that week. 

On top of that, her frustration was mixed with a fair bit of nerves, because excluding the first time she had met him, this was the first time she was going on to Mike’s room alone. And she didn’t even think the first time really counted because she had thought he was Max’s boyfriend. 

It’s just, she really  _ really _ needed to study for her psych test tomorrow, and Max and Lucas were distracting her. Usually she would go the library, but it was closing early tonight and El couldn’t risk having to cut her studying short. She only hoped that Mike wouldn’t mind her coming over. 

“Oh, El.” Mike said when he opened the door. Subconsciously El felt her spine straighten and she plastered a small, albeit forced, smile on her face. She was sure Mike was the one person who truly understood her frustration, so she wasn’t worried about hiding it. “Everything alright?” 

“Do you mind if I study here for a while?” El asked, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. “I have this big test tomorrow and Max and Lucas are being…” She trailed off, letting out a sigh of relief when Mike nodded in understanding. 

“Yeah, sure. C’mon in.” He stepped aside and El felt her heart leap into her throat as she entered the room and heard the door click closed behind her. Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, she suddenly regretted coming over here. She should have just gone to library to study. 

Mike himself, looked like he was doing work, if the amount of books that were scattered over his bed and floor were any indication. “Sorry.” He muttered when he saw her looked, bending down to kick some of the books under his bed. “My engineering research paper is kicking my ass.” 

“Mike.” El said, tugging nervously at the strap of her backpack. She waited until he looked at her before she nodded ever so slightly. “It’s okay. I’m the one who came over here without asking.” 

There’s a hint of further frustration laced in her voice, and El mentally hits herself for it. An awkward silence settles over them and El is about to turn around and walk out the door without another word, desperate for the awkwardness to be over.

“El, it’s okay.” He says softly. Understanding is present in his tone and El feels her shoulders drop, ever so slightly relaxed. “You’re not intruding, I promise.” 

The word promise hits in her a way that she doesn’t expect and she feels herself giving a relieved smile, her hands falling to her sides, no longer grasping her backpack. “Are you sure?” She can’t help but ask, sometimes she gets the sense that Mike is overly nice and she doesn’t want him to feel like he  _ has  _ to let her stay. No matter how grateful she may be. 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He says, giving her a small smile. “You can set up on my desk if you want, I’ve kind of taken over the bed and floor, so that might be the safest place for you.” 

El nods, going over his desk, which has a couple of miscellaneous things scattered across it. She smiles when she notices a picture of him, Lucas and two other boys in a frame, unable to resist picking it up and studying it. The boys are all wearing matching graduation robes, their arms around each other and wide smiles on their faces. Mike stands tall in the middle, towering over the boy next to him, his black hair still just as curly and messy as it is now. 

“That was high school graduation.” Mike says behind her and El turns around, face warm with embarrassment as she locks eyes with him. He’s standing near his bed, a small smile on his face and a warm look in his eyes. 

“Which one is which?” El asks, taking a step closer to him and handing him the photo. She remembered Dustin and Will from Mike’s stories, in fact at this point she’d heard many stories about them, so she’s glad she’s going to finally have names and faces to put together. 

Mike smiles, pointing to the curly haired boy next to Lucas, the biggest smile El had ever seen on his face. “That’s Dustin.” His finger glides easily over the picture and El feels her heart speed in her chest when he takes a step closer to her. “And that one is Will.”

“Aw.” El says, looking up from the picture to smile at Mike. “You guys are all so cute.” She teases, knocking Mike’s shoulder with her own. He rolls his eyes and El notices a blush appearing on the corners of his cheeks.

“Didn’t you have studying that you needed to do.” Mike teases, handing the picture back to her. El rolls her eyes, barely stopping herself from laughing out loud.

“Fine, fine.” El replied, holding her hands up in surrender, making her way back to Mike’s desk and setting the photo back and taking a seat. “Thank you, for letting me study here.” She says after a moment, turning in the chair to look at him. 

Mike, who had gone back to looking at the various papers and books scattered across his floor, looked up at her, his eyebrows stitched together. “Don’t even mention it.” He said with an easy shrug, a smile on his face. “You’re welcome anytime.” 

There’s a certain softness to his tone, and a look in his eyes that has El barely smiling before looking away, her teeth biting her bottom lip and her face erupting in a warm blush that she feels itching at the back of her neck.  _ Snap out of it. _ She practically yells at herself. Mike might be smiling at her and offering her his room to study in, but he’s just being nice. 

It doesn’t mean anything. 

After that, the two of them work in relative silence. El can hear the occasional hum or hmph from Mike, but otherwise, he’s fairly quiet. There’s shuffling every so often from behind her, but El manages to not turn around to investigate when she hears them. In fact, she does more studying in Mike’s room then she has in weeks. It’s quiet, comfortable and warm.

El is so wrapped up in studying that she forgets to look at the clock. 

“Oh my god.” She hears after what feels like, and is, hours later. She was finishing up the last chapter she needed to look at and barely looks up from her book at Mike’s words. “El.” That causes El to drop her pencil and turn around in her chair, face scrunched in confusion. 

“Huh?” She’s even more confused when she catches the look on Mike’s face. His eyes are wide and he looks like he’s seen a ghost or something. “What?” 

She watches as he runs his hand down his face, fingers tugging on the ends of his hair. “It’s like two in the morning, I think we both got caught up in studying.” 

Heart jumping into her throat, El grabs her cell phone from the bottom of her bag, cringing when she notices that it is in fact just a couple minutes before 2am. She also doesn’t miss the way her heart twists guiltily at the four missed texts she has from Max asking her where she is. 

“I am so sorry, I’ll get going.” El says, assuming that the reason he pointed it out is because she’s grossly overstayed her welcome and he wants to go to sleep. Her eyes begin to burn and she shakes her head, willing herself not to cry, even if they are mostly born of her sudden onset exhaustion. “If I had been paying attention earlier, I would have gotten out of your hair earlier.” 

Swallowing uncomfortably, El grabs her backpack from the ground and begins gathering her stuff, hardly noticing that Mike had stepped closer to her until his hand was on her arm. El desperately tried to ignore the way her skin burned at his touch. 

“El.” He says and she gulps, eyes refusing to meet his, if only because she can still feel the moisture gathered in the corners and she does  _ not  _ need Mike seeing her cry. “Why don’t you stay here.” 

“What?” 

Mike shrugs, looking around the room, his eyes drifting out the window into the darkness of the night. “It’s really late, and I would feel better if you stayed here. Better than either one of us being outside alone.” 

El swallows, her fingers tangling together, those all familiar nerves climbing up her spine uncomfortably. Again, Mike is just being overly nice. She almost wants to argue with him, insist that she go back to her room and trek there herself, but she also is  _ so _ tired. 

“Are you-” She starts, itching at her neck. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Mike interrupts, his hands resting on her arms. “We’re both exhausted, there are two beds here, Lucas is probably staying in your room tonight, anyways.” He shrugs, letting go of her skin to stretch her arms up, and El has to try very hard not to look down at the exposed skin of his stomach.

“Okay, thanks.” She says with a small smile, dropping her backpack back down to the ground. She’s suddenly regretting her outfit choice of jeans and a sweater, but she doesn’t have many options and at this point she hardly even cares.

Mike gives her a smile and steps away from her, moving around him room, picking up books as he goes. El takes a moment to pull her phone from her bag, sending Max a quick text to let her know where she is. Max will no doubt tease her in the morning for spending the night in Mike’s room, but at this point El hardly cares. 

Besides, it’s not like it  _ means _ anything. 

She’s so wrapped up in texting Max that she doesn’t notice Mike standing in front of her until he’s clearing his throat. In his hands he has a bundle of clothing and El swallows nervously. “I thought you might be more comfortable in this stuff then in what you’re wearing.” He shrugs, looking equally as nervous as El feels. “You don’t have to, but I know that sleeping in jeans is really uncomfortable so…”

He trails off and El is definitely embarrassed to admit that tears prick at the corners of her eyes again, this time only partly from exhaustion. “Thanks.” She says softly, taking the clothing from him. “I’m gonna go…” She gestures awkwardly to the door, suddenly in need for a deep breath and a splash of cold water on her face. 

Once she’s in the bathroom, she sighs, running a hand down her face.  _ It doesn’t mean anything, El.  _ She tells herself as she stares at her reflection in the mirror, pulling her hair from it’s ponytail.  _ He’s only being nice to you.  _

Groaning, she splashes water on her face, sighing in relief at the feeling of the coolness on her skin. However, even with those reminders to herself, she still can’t help but smile as she pulls the clothes Mike gave her on. The sweatpants he gave her are way too big and she has to roll them up more than once to keep them from falling and the t shirt (which has a picture of a dragon on it, which makes her giggle) swallows her whole, but they’re warm and comfortable and make her feel safe. 

As she reenters Mike’s room a couple minutes later, having gone to the bathroom and swished water in her mouth so she didn’t feel  _ totally  _ disgusting, he’s shut off most of the lights and cleaned off his bed. However, she feels confusion crawling up her when she notices that he’s hovering near Lucas’ bed, not his own. 

“I thought you’d be more comfortable in my bed, then in Lucas’” He says with a small shrug. Mike himself has changed out of his jeans and is now clad in worn out plaid pajama pants and El can’t help the way her heart skips a beat. 

_ He’s so cute _ . 

“I don’t know why I thought that you would be more comfortable, if you don’t you can totally sleep in this one, I just thought it might be weird because he’s your best friend’s boyfriend and -” 

El laughs softly at Mike’s ramblings. Looks like he’s even worse when it gets to be late at night. Shaking her head softly, she sighs. “Thank you, for you know, thinking of that, but it’s fine. I’ll sleep wherever.” 

Truthfully, the idea of sleeping in Mike’s bed makes her palms sweat and her entire body tingle ever so slightly, but she probably  _ would _ feel weird in Lucas’s bed and honestly, at this point she’s too exhausted to think about anything but sleep. So, Mike’s bed is looking very welcoming as she crawls onto it, pulling the blanket down. 

Once her and Mike are both settled, he flicks the light light off, bathing the room in darkness. She hears him adjust and her breath catches in her throat. “Goodnight, El.” He says softly, his voice carrying easily to her ears. 

“Goodnight, Mike.” She replies, feeling a smile playing on her lips. Her eyes are already closing as the words leave her mouth and she feels herself easily slipping into dreamland. 

She definitely falls asleep that night with a smile on her face. 

 

* * *

 

Things get a little awkward, but not  _ so _ much so in the aftermath of El sleeping in Mike’s room that they don’t spend as much time together in the following weeks. In fact, El would say that it feels like they’re spending more and more time together with each passing day. 

Some days she feels like the only time she doesn’t spend with him is when she’s working or in class, not that she’s necessarily complaining about that. 

So, needless to say, she’s not surprised when he texts her on Friday night asking her if she wants to go see and movie and get something to eat. Like most Fridays, Lucas and Max are out on a date, something special this week because it’s their four month anniversary, and El is half expecting Mike to text her and ask her to hang out. 

However, the next message he sends her, leaves her slightly confused.

**Mike:** _ The place we’re going to dinner is kind of fancy, just a warning _ . 

Fancy? Her eyebrows crinkle together as she reads the text again. Usually when her and Mike go out to eat, they go to the same pizza place that they did the first time they hung out. Sure, it’s not the fanciest, nicest place in the world, but she likes it just fine, so she doesn’t feel like they have to eat somewhere else. But, she doesn’t argue and changes into a denim skirt and sweater, throwing her hair into a bun on the top of her head. 

Truthfully, she’s looking forward to tonight more than she usually is when it comes to Mike. She’s had a long week and she’s pretty sure she failed her midterm the other day, so she’s in desperate need for a distraction. 

In fact, by the time Mike is texting her telling her he’s outside waiting for her, El is practically ready to jump out of her skin she’s so anxious to leave her room. Putting her coat on and grabbing her stuff, she nearly skips down the hallway and out the door, her heart freezing and her stomach swooping when she sees Mike standing in front of her. 

He had certainly been right about if being fancy and she suddenly glad she had put tights and her nice boots on with her outfit. He’s dressed in a nice pair of khaki pants and a navy blue sweater that makes his eyes sparkle and his freckles pop. El kind of feels like the wind has been knocked out of her when she looks at him. 

He’s the most handsome person she’s ever seen in her entire life. 

“Hey.” She says, swallowing down her nerves and capturing his attention. He had been looking off into the distance and his vision snaps to look at her when she speaks, a smile falling onto his face when their eyes meet.

“Hey.” His voice is soft and it sends a tingle down her spine. “You look really pretty.” He takes a step towards her and El feels a blush begin to creep up her neck. 

Biting down on her lip, she trains her eyes to the ground, her face only becoming more warm when she can still feel Mike’s eyes on her. “Thank you.” She finally whispers, tucking a hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear, and flicking her eyes up to look at him. There’s something in his eyes that makes her want to melt on the spot and she’s almost positive that she’s dreaming. 

Because there’s absolutely no way that what she thinks might happen is actually going to happen. 

“You look really nice too.” She says after a moment, giving him a small smile. His cheeks go a little pink and El’s stomach flips.  _ God _ she thinks,  _ he really isn’t making it easy on her is he? _

A beat passes and the two of them just look at each other and for a moment, El considers opening her mouth and suggesting that they get going, but as soon as she’s about to, Mike leans forward and does just about the last thing she would expect him to do. 

He kisses her. 

At first she’s thinks that she’s imagining it. That she’ll snap out of it and Mike will be staring at her like she’s lost her mind. Then, she thinks she’s dreaming and she almost pinches herself, but then she feels Mike’s hand against her cheek and she knows that this is real. 

And it’s even better then she ever could have pictured it. 

Mike’s lips are soft and warm against hers, a relief from the cold early winter air around them. His hand is firm against her cheek and El feels like she’s being wrapped up in a blanket of comfort and safety. Her entire body feels like it very well might burst into flames and her heart is beating so quickly she fears it might burst from her chest. 

When Mike pulls away a couple moments later, there’s a wide grin on his face and El’s heart soars. Even if she is rather confused. 

“Why did you do that?” She asks, trying to ignore the wide smile that threatened to break her face in two.

Mike laughs, shaking his head slightly and shoving his hands into his pockets, a shrug lifting up his shoulders. “Because I wanted to.” He says, a smile on his face. “Was it okay, that I did?” 

She feels herself nod before she can even gather her thoughts. She might be confused and she might definitely need an explanation because she had  _ not _ seen that coming, but it was definitely, one hundred percent okay with her that Mike had kissed her. In fact, he was welcome to do it again if he wanted to. 

“I guess I’m just a little confused, that’s all.” El said softly. Mike’s head tilted in confusion and he took a small step closer to her. “All those times that you asked me to hang out, I thought you were just doing all that because of Lucas and Max…” 

She’s almost embarrassed when she hears the words she said leave her mouth and she tries not to be taken aback when Mike chuckles lightly, shaking his head. She doesn’t know what exactly she’s expecting him to do, but her heart melts when he reaches forward and takes her hands in hers. 

“El.” She smiles, the softness of his voice sending a tingle from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “I was doing all that because I like you.” 

If Mike’s kiss had sent her nearly teetering off the edge, his words practically pushed her off a cliff. She felt her mouth fall open and there was an amused smile that took over Mike’s face. Mike  _ liked  _ her? No, that couldn’t be possible. There was  _ no _ way.

“You, what?” 

Mike nodded, the amused grin still playing on his lips. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath, pursuing his lips. “Have pretty much since we met, even if you did think I was dating your best friend.” 

Now El was really embarrassed. The entire time that she had thought Mike was Lucas he had  _ liked _ her. Meaning that he had liked her nearly as long as she had liked him. “You have?” She almost didn’t believe him, even if there wasn’t any hint of a lie or an exaggeration in his tone. 

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’ with his lips and El’s stomach flipped. “I wanted to spend all that time with you because I wanted to get you know you better. Most of the times I’ve asked you to hang out it’s because I wanted to spend time with you, it never really had anything to do with Lucas and Max. Although, I did actually need help with my psych work.”

El couldn’t help but giggle. “Yeah, that I could tell.” Mike feigned offense, holding his hand to his chest, but there was a wide smile on his face and amused twinkled in his eyes. “I guess it’s just hard for me to imagine.” El admitted, shrugging her shoulders. 

“Well trust me, I like you a lot.” Mike said, taking a small step closer to her. “Pretty much more than I’ve ever liked anyone.” El felt herself smile, eyes locking onto his. “The reason that I wanted to take you somewhere nice tonight is because I was kind of hoping that this could maybe be a date.” 

“A date?” 

Mike laughs lightly, nodding his head. “Yeah, a date.” His smile is wide, the whites of his teeth visible and reflecting the pale moonlight. El’s heart hammers in her chest and she’s afraid she very well might burst with complete and utter happiness. 

“I like the sound of that.” She says, a giggle escaping her lips, evidence of the happiness that bubbling inside of her and threatening to overflow. She feels like a soda bottle that’s been shaken too much before opening, giggles and smiles coursing through her like bubbles. 

She watches as Mike takes a step back, holding his hand out. “Well, then I guess I should officially ask.” He clears his throat dramatically and El smiles. She feels like she’s in some old Hollywood movie and she loves every second of it. “El Hopper, would you like to go on a date with me?” 

El’s pretty sure that at this point her face was going to break with how wide she was smiling but she didn’t care. Reaching out, she intertwined her fingers with Mike’s the jolt of electricity as their hands met sending a shiver down her spine. 

“I would absolutely love to.” 

And in that moment, El knows that this is the beginning of something. As she tucks herself against Mike’s body, a smile on her face that feels like it’s never going to leave. His hand is wound tightly in hers, his fingers leaving an imprint on her skin, and on her heart. She knows in that moment, that she never, ever wants to let go. 

And she doesn’t ever plan on it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, hopefully this made up for the long wait. just a lot of fluff <3\. the next chapter is probably going to be even fluffier and is just going to basically be mileven being together and max and lucas being like "HA! i told you so! :p" and i for one, am very excited. hopefully the finale won't take as long to get here, i have a break from work next week for basically 9 straight days so i'm hoping i'll be able to crank it all out during then. 
> 
> thanks all so much for reading! let me know what you think!


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